The past couple of days have been tough. Lots going on, and some of it not so good. I decided earlier this morning that I needed a re-charge, and even though it was a bit cold, I sat on my patio for a while.
I just wanted to sit there, coffee in hand, and think. Despite it being early, there was lots going on in my backyard. It looked like every type of bird was busy picking up nesting materials. They are a determined bunch, and I’m sure I’ll hear lots of baby birds in the very near future.
As the sun rose higher, my thoughts turned to prayer. Even though there seems to be a lot of negative things going on, there is also cause for rejoicing.
Young or old, rich or poor, sick or well, happy or sad, optimistic or pessimistic, we woke up today. Throughout the world, thousands of people didn’t. Yesterday was the end of the world for them. Not so for us. We got another chance to see the sun come up, to watch birds building their nests, to right a wrong, to start a transformation, just to name a few.
We sometimes get so caught up in the grind that we miss the very simple point that, no matter how bad things may appear, we are alive. This in itself should be an incentive to seize the day and put it to good use.
Remember the movie, Dead Poet’s Society? Robin Williams skillfully played the part of Mr. Keating, a boy’s school English teacher. The movie begins with Keating standing with his class in front of a trophy case. He explained that all the young men in photos, then in the prime of their lives, were long since dead. As the boys looked into the case, Keating whispered, Carpe Diem (Seize the Day). And so several of the boys did just that. They stretched themselves and began to dream big and to embrace life to the fullest. Of course, at a boy’s boarding school in the 1950’s where order and discipline ruled the day, this didn’t go over so well, and there were serious consequences.
Gratefully, we have it better than them, mainly because we are adults who have more control over our lives. Mr. Keating’s call to seize the day hit me this morning, sitting out on my little patio off the kitchen. As I watched the birds prepare their nests, I also watched the wind blow the blooms off a quickly fading lilac bush. Magnificent three or four days ago, the blooms, along with their glorious scent, will be a memory by Sunday.
Yes, by all means, seize the day. Don’t go to bed tonight without doing at least one thing that brings fulfillment to your day, and a smile on your face (and maybe of face of another).
